"Passionately Curious": Week 3 Update

By LitiAquaria - 1:57 AM

It had been three weeks since the tank was setup. I decided to name my first planted tank "Passionately Curious" as part of my favorite quote from Albert Einstein. I hope to keep my curiosity remains for the whole journey of the planted tank and keep learning new interesting things.

The plants so far have been growing very well under the routine mentioned above on lighting, CO2 and fertilizer given without any algae or snail issue, touch wood. I believe all of the careful preparation steps makes that happened. From boiling driftwood, rocks to choosing plants which were algae/snail free (i.e. Tropica 1-2 Grow!) really made the different and it is worth the investment. I bet no beginner would want to see algae and snails in their very first planted tank. :)

Some of the photos update on Day 18 that I captured here:-

Carpet Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' has grown quite well and filling the foreground progressively

Side view from the right

Side view from the left. I am waiting for the inlet glass lily pipe to come to replace Eheim inlet pipe. It work well so far but I think the tank will look much better with both inflow and outflow glass lily pipe. :)

Heteranthera zosterifolia has grown so fast and touched water surface. Soon, trimming session will be done so that it can look more bushy and dense. :)

The tank from a side view

Front view of the tank. Behind background look a bit messy now, but I believe it will be better after few trimming sessions.

Some videos recorded during the beginning period are posted below.

Day 1 to Day 7 Progress:-

Day 17 Progress:-

Overall, I am quite satisfied with the plants's growing progress so far. The tank, however is not cycled yet at this point of time. I might mention about cycling process in another post when the tank is fully cycled. Can't wait to see the first fauna introduced to the tank. Nevertheless, I really enjoy seeing the plants growing everyday. Cheers! :)

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About me

When I was a child, I had an interest in keeping fishes, especially bettas and guppies. Just with a used beer bottle and a foxtail aquatic plant, you got it. Guppies at that time could be caught from the compound drains around my house. Together with my neighbor friends, we saved some money to buy bettas from a local fish shop. We treasured our fighting fishes and took well care of them before each battle. We even cried when our fighters lost the game. :P

Back to early 2016, my kid and my wife had shown an interest in having a small fish tank. I was thinking just to get a tank with a filter, a light lamp, some colour stones and some goldfishes. The next weekend, I went to the neighborhood library aiming to get a little more knowledge about fish tanks before I could resume my long-lost childhood hobby :P. On the bookshelf, I saw one about Goldfish and right next to it was “The Perfect Aquarium” by Jeremy Gay. I borrowed both and brought back home to carry out my research. The more I read “The Perfect Aquarium”, the more I was so into the world of planted tanks. Why everything seems so attractive and comprehensive when comes to planted tanks? Why there are so many types of filters? What are beneficial bacteria and why do planted tanks need them? People injected CO2 into the tank? Are they crazy? Everyone knows fishes need oxygen, right? So many questions popped up in my mind. I became so curious about planted tanks and very soon after, I started my first tank called “Passionately Curious”. And that is how the journey begins.

In this blog, I pen down the journey of not only my first planted tank “Passionately Curious”, but also other tanks and aquascaping related matters. You might find it helpful as I started as a noob and fresh beginner with so much curiosity! :)